Spanish medical interpreters.
Looking for a certified Spanish medical interpreter? AMS provides certified Spanish medical interpreters for patients, families, clinics, hospitals, insurers and law firms, on site in all 50 states and remote worldwide. Requests are confirmed within the hour, and same-day and next-day bookings are routine.
Access Multilingual Services (AMS) is an interpreting and translation agency founded in 1999, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas and interpreters on site in all 50 states and remote worldwide.
Most quote requests are answered within 10 minutes.
How to book a Spanish medical interpreter
- Ask the clinic or hospital first. Hospitals and clinics that take federal funds must offer a qualified interpreter at no cost to the patient under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.
- If you, your law firm or your insurer needs to book one directly, call (800) 919-2029 or e-mail scheduling
@accessmultilingual.com with the language, the date and time, and the address or video link. - AMS confirms a certified Spanish medical interpreter (CCHI or NBCMI) in writing, usually within the hour, in person or by video or phone.
Get a quote for Spanish interpreting
A few quick questions. Most quote requests are answered within 10 minutes. Prefer to talk? Call (800) 919-2029.
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Most requests answered within 10 minutes.
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Spanish medical interpreters: what to know
Spanish is one of only two languages, with Mandarin, where both national medical credentials exist, CCHI's CHI-Spanish and NBCMI's CMI-Spanish, so there is no reason to settle for less. Patients from rural Mexico and Central America sometimes describe symptoms through folk illnesses such as empacho or susto; a trained interpreter renders them faithfully and lets the provider ask follow-up questions, instead of quietly translating them into a diagnosis.
More than 40 million people in the United States speak Spanish at home, and they do not all speak the same Spanish. Mexican, Central American, Caribbean, South American and Spain Spanish differ in vocabulary for everyday things, from cars and food to body parts and family relationships, and those are exactly the words that matter in a deposition or an exam room. Our schedulers ask where the speaker is from and match the interpreter to that region.
Some people from Mexico and Guatemala speak an Indigenous language first, such as Mixteco, Zapoteco, Mam, K'iche' or Q'anjob'al, and follow Spanish only partly. When that is the case, AMS books an interpreter for the Indigenous language instead of pushing ahead in Spanish.
What a medical interpreter does in the room
A medical interpreter renders everything the doctor and the patient say, in the first person, without adding, softening or summarizing. That includes the parts people are tempted to skip: the side effects, the dosing schedule, the question the patient asks under their breath. When a term has no clean equivalent, the interpreter says so and asks the provider to explain it in plain words.
Two national bodies certify medical interpreters. The Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) offers the CHI credential in Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin, and, for interpreters of other languages, the CoreCHI knowledge credential and the CoreCHI-Performance (CoreCHI-P) credential. The National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI) offers the CMI credential in Spanish, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian and Vietnamese. AMS books interpreters who hold one of them, or documented medical training where no language-specific exam exists.
In person is best for exams, procedures, mental health visits and anyone who is hard of hearing. Video works well for telehealth and for languages that are rare locally. Phone is fine for short calls such as scheduling and test results.
What we cover
- Primary care and specialist visits
- Surgery consults and pre-op instructions
- Hospital stays, rounds and discharge
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Mental health intakes and therapy
- Telehealth visits
- Records reviews with a patient and their attorney
- IMEs, QMEs and other medical-legal exams
One scheduling desk since 1999
Since 1999 Access Multilingual Services (AMS) has been the interpreting agency law firms, court reporting firms, insurers and clinics call first, in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Arabic, Russian, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Farsi, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Armenian, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian, German, Greek, Somali, Amharic, Tigrinya, Burmese, Nepali, Khmer, Hmong, Lao, Thai, Dari, Pashto, Turkish, Swahili, Hebrew, ASL and Indigenous languages such as Mixteco and K'iche', plus 80+ other languages. Best for depositions, IMEs and QMEs, court hearings and medical appointments, on site in all 50 states and remote worldwide. Every interpreter is court-certified, court-registered or medically certified (CCHI or NBCMI) for the setting, and matched to the speaker's dialect and region. AMS is a HIPAA-compliant agency and signs HIPAA business associate agreements.
- Coverage
- On site in all 50 states and remote worldwide
- Speed
- Requests confirmed within the hour; same-day and next-day bookings are routine
- Interpreters
- Certified for the setting and matched to the speaker's dialect
- Translation
- Certified, the same day, most documents within 4 hours
- Privacy
- HIPAA-compliant agency; signs business associate agreements
- Our promise
- If an interpreter does not arrive, the booking is not billed
How to book
Call (800) 919-2029 or e-mail scheduling
Rates and terms
Clear half-day and full-day rates, and Net 30 invoices that carry your case name and job number.
Held to the profession's own standards.
Access Multilingual Services is a corporate member of the American Translators Association and a member of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. Certifications themselves belong to the individual interpreters we assign, and we verify them before every booking.
Member
National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators (NAJIT)
View our NAJIT directory listingQuestions, answered
How fast can you send a Spanish interpreter?
Same day in most cases; next day almost always. Requests are confirmed within the hour.
Does the hospital have to provide an interpreter?
Usually, yes. Hospitals and clinics that receive federal funds must offer a qualified interpreter at no cost under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. AMS is booked directly when a clinic contracts with us, or when a patient, family, attorney or insurer wants an interpreter they arranged themselves.
Can a family member interpret instead?
Federal rules limit it. An adult who came with the patient may interpret only in an emergency, until a qualified interpreter is available, or when the patient asks for it in private with a qualified interpreter present, the adult agrees, the request is documented and it is appropriate. A child may interpret only in an emergency. Medical vocabulary, privacy and family dynamics are the reasons.
Are your medical interpreters certified?
Yes: CCHI or NBCMI certified, or for languages with no language-specific exam, trained in medical interpreting with documented experience. AMS is a HIPAA-compliant agency and signs HIPAA business associate agreements.
Which Spanish will the interpreter speak?
The variety your speaker uses. Tell us where they are from when you book, and AMS matches the interpreter to that region's Spanish.
Can the interpreter join remotely?
Yes, on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Google Meet, the court reporter's platform or by phone, where the court or venue allows it.
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Book a Spanish medical interpreter
Requests are confirmed within the hour, and same-day and next-day bookings are routine.
Most quote requests are answered within 10 minutes.